The Radiating Power of an Inner Transformative Force

There are many methods that have been tried to shift ideas, thoughts, motives and actions in the world. Some of these methods involve subtle, or not so subtle, use of various forms of propagandizing, proselytizing, sermonizing, or dominating others through use of covert or overt force, including brute physical force, vital force, economic force or mental force. There are also those who harness what we may call a religious force or a patriotic force or a force of ‘belonging’ to a particular group, at a broader level. All of these methods utilize exte
al means to cajole, convince or bully others into accepting a preferred way of thinking or acting. The individual who chooses a different path may be ostracised, bullied, harmed, tortured, denied opportunities or eliminated. It is interesting to note that none of these forces have succeeded, in the long history of humanity throughout the entire world, and across numerous cultures, in preventing individual growth, progress and development, which then eventually fed into the society and brought about changes in the social order. The trajectory of the evolution of consciousness has always overcome and outlasted the short-lived outer pressures of the more exte
al methods.

Many of those who have employed these exte
al methods had good intentions and motivations to create a better society, but along the way, they chose a path of coercion, in one form or another, as a means toward the realization of their goals, adopting the sense that the ‘end justifies the means’.

There are other, quieter and less visible ways to help others and the world we live in develop in ways that can benefit without oppression or violence. We can see thinkers, artists, writers who have had a positive influence through millennia simply by the expression of their art, their music, their feelings and their ideas which captured the imagination and understanding of people by virtue of the value of those concepts. We have seen great religious leaders who not only expressed new ideas, but worked to live out those ideals and create a core group of individuals who tried to adopt them in their own lives. Ideas such as non-violence, equality, freedom, harmony and good will have spread through such means.

In some cases we see individuals whose ideas are not new but who, in their own being, radiate the joy, the simplicity, the empathy and harmony that others speak about and we are drawn to those individuals to simply bask in the radiance of their aura. These individuals can, in some cases, create such a powerful atmosphere around them that normally aggressive animals can co-exist in peace. There are legends of ancient Rishis who had lions, or tigers in their forest retreat who did not attack anyone or anything while in that place. Individuals who came there felt the sacred and deeply peaceful nature of the Ashram and gained a measure of peace themselves.

The influence of radiating a transformative energy cannot be directly measured, but as we see with artists, philosophers, poets, and musicians, the energy carries itself out through time. In one of his aphorisms, Sri Aurobindo indicated that the French Revolution took place because of a yogi living in a cave in the Himalayan mountains dreaming of freedom. The question of whether an influence can circulate around the globe, and through a span of time is one which has occupied thoughtful individuals. It becomes clear that when humanity is ready, ideas and forces that have been in preparation, perhaps received, experienced and transmitted by lonesome individuals, are able to burst forth and bring about extraordinary opportunities for human growth and development.

The real issues that have plagued humanity are not to be solved by physical, vital or mental solutions. As a transitional being, man is imperfect and the liimitations of the currently evolved instruments are visible. We have limited capacity for seeing and understanding the complete picture of the universal manifestation, we have imperfect vital reactions that lead to the failures of all our systems, with expressions of greed, lust, vanity, pride, anger and hatred, etc. We have limited physical capacities. It is by the evolution of the next stage of the expression of consciousness that we can shift our standpoint away from these limitations and find the harmonizing factor that can unite them and resolve the weaknesses. And it is thus that the seeker can truly work to advance humanity and help to overcome the darkness and ignorance that has contributed so much pain and suffering on our developmental path.

The Mother notes: “If one sincerely wants to help others and the world, the best thing one can do is to be oneself what one wants others to be — not only as an example, but because one becomes a centre of radiating power which, by the very fact that it exists, compels the rest of the world to transform itself.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 2, Looking at Oneself and Others, pg. 54